Coulthard vs GT5 gamers

Mercedes has hosted a rather special event. Former F1 driver David Coulthard piloted a real, live-action, oversteery V8-powered Merc SLS AMG on a top-secret test track. His competition? Some video-gaming enthusiasts thumbing away on a PlayStation in real time, on the same track, trying to beat him.

And you can see who won on the stream below.

In an ambitious take on Jeremy's "NSX at Laguna Seca" film, the Mercedes Live Race saw DC confront six competition winners racing in a digital SLS at the same track on Gran Turismo 5. Not only that, gamers across the world join in via GT5 online in a ‘Seasonal Event'.

The fastest of the six gamers competing against DC and his real-life SLS would then head off to the Brazilian Grand Prix in a blaze of glory. Not that he'll give them an easy time, mind.

"The best gamers in the world understand intimately the nuances of that particular software and how to get the maximum out of it," DC noted. "I understand in detail how to get the best out of the car. What I'm hoping is the fact that I competed for 26 years: that will bring me through."

"My challenge to all of the gamers out there is this: can you beat the real thing? Let's see if you can beat me." Consider that a forceful expulsion of a fully articulated plate-armour glove.

Fellow BBC F1 commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundle suggested DC should bear in mind his legacy. "I think he should be scared of the gamers," he said. "He has a reputation to lose. He is probably challenging Stirling Moss to be the best driver never to win the world championship. They haven't got that to lose.

"My advice to the gamers is this: keep it on the road, because there's no point being super fast on almost all the corners but then spin off," he added.

The live video will be available on demand in the box below so keep an eye out. Did the defiantly analogue DC repel the geeks?